Colonie: Trooper from Mahopac Injured
A New York State Police trooper from Mahopac was seriously injured on Nov. 2 when he was struck by a vehicle on Interstate 87.
Nicholas Abbondola, who graduated from the academy in October 2023, was hit by a pickup truck while a tow truck driver loaded a stalled vehicle. The tow truck driver was also injured.
Jason Guerin, 40, of Malta, was charged with felony aggravated vehicular assault and driving while ability impaired by drugs and sent without bail to the Albany County Correctional Facility.
Salt Point: State Trooper Arrested
A New York State Police investigator was arrested by the FBI on Nov. 21 at the headquarters of Troop K, which serves Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester and Columbia counties.
Michael O’Flaherty, 42, of Poughkeepsie, a trooper since 2013, was charged with two counts of obstructing an official proceeding and two counts of false statements.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, in 2022 state and federal agencies investigated a fentanyl pill distribution ring linked to overdose deaths in Dutchess County. Investigators identified a trafficker who they learned had been a confidential informant for O’Flaherty, who offered to assist.
Instead, according to the criminal complaint, O’Flaherty alerted the trafficker to the investigation, helped him avoid arrest and attempted to identify an informant who was assisting investigators.
Wappingers Falls: Village Drops Overnight Patrols
The village announced Nov. 13 that its police officers would no longer patrol between midnight and 8 a.m.
In a news release, the village said patrols would be provided by the New York State Police and Dutchess County Sheriff’s deputies.
“This decision was made after exhaustive consideration, dialogue and review of the options available to us,” the village said. “The challenges we face in staffing our police department are shared by municipalities across the nation, as communities everywhere contend with a well-known shortage of police personnel.
“Our village is further constrained by civil service regulations that limit the hours many of our officers can work. Despite ongoing efforts to secure waivers, adjust shift schedules and hire new officers for over six months, we are still grappling with these challenges.”
Peekskill: City Approves Third Dispensary
The Peekskill Planning Commission, at its Nov. 14 meeting, approved a third cannabis dispensary for the city.
NYSAFE 420 plans to renovate the ground floor space at 1719 Main St. occupied by Beer World, according to The Peekskill Herald.
The commission granted NYSAFE 420 a special permit, preliminary site plan approval and associated parking waivers, with the condition that the business does not remove any windows, adds trim colors to match the neighboring plaza and moves a handicap spot closer to the entrance.
Peekskill already has two dispensaries (Valley Greens and Cloud 914), a micro business on John Walsh Boulevard and a manufacturer, The Art of Flower Farm.
Fishkill: Prison Guards’ Privacy Breached
The names, job titles and Social Security numbers for hundreds of state prison guards and employees were given to at least two inmates in a security breach at the Fishkill Correctional Facility, a union representative told Mid Hudson News.
The representative said an offender rehabilitation coordinator informed the superintendent on Nov. 17 of the breach, which occurred two weeks earlier. The prison has about 2,000 inmates, and the union said guards were conducting searches. Three copies of the list were recovered, and inmates who worked in the law library and all prisoners who made copies that equaled the number of pages in the leaked document were searched.
Kingston: State Offers Affordable Housing Grants
New York State on Nov. 21 announced it would give $40 million to 18 nonprofits and municipal governments to repair and rehab up to 600 vacant apartments into affordable housing.
The program offers up to $50,000 to small landlords to renovate vacant rental apartments for lower and middle-income tenants. The money can be used for health and safety upgrades, correcting code violations, accessibility modifications, environmental remediation and general repairs.
In Dutchess, Putnam and seven other counties, $5 million will be distributed by the nonprofit RUPCO Inc. to rehab up to 80 apartments. RUPCO owns or manages 771 rental units in 23 developments in Ulster, Orange and Greene counties.
